Safe transfer of chickpea germplasm

Contributors to this page: ICRISAT, India (RP Thakur, AG Girish, VP Rao); ICARDA, Syria (Siham Asaad, Abdulrahman Moukahal).

The Plant Quarantine Laboratory (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) at ICRISAT, Patancheru, India follows the plant quarantine requirements of the ICRISAT scientific community for the germplasm exchange of ICRISAT’s mandate crops: sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)], pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.], chickpea [Cicer arietinum (L.)], pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millspaugh], groundnut [Arachis hypogaea (L.)] and six small millets: finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.], foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) Beauv.], little millet (Panicum sumatrense Roth.ex Roem. & Schult.), barnyard millet [Echinochloa crussgalli (L.) Beauv.], proso millet [Panicum miliaceum (L.)] and kodo millet [Paspalum scrobiculatum (L.)].

Indian plant quarantine regulations are legislated under the Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914 and the Plant Quarantine Order 2003 for the purpose of prohibiting and regulating the import of agricultural articles into India.

• Seed and plant material of these crops cannot be exported/ imported directly by the institute’s scientists.
• The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, is the plant quarantine authority responsible for ICRISAT’s germplasm exchange.

In 1985, NBPGR established a Regional Station at Rajendranagar, Hyderabad to implement the quarantine regulations in South India, to ensure the safe movement of germplasm.

Within the CGIAR, both ICRISAT and ICARDA are responsible for chickpea and the information on quarantine regulations and guidelines is presented for both institutions.

This page includes sections on:

• Import and export requirements. 
• Technical guidelines for the safe movement of germplasm and detection of relevant pathogens and pests. 
• Best practices in place at ICRISAT.

References and further reading

Ahmed KM, Ravinder Reddy Ch.1993. A pictorial guide to the identification of seedborne fungi of sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut. Information Bulletin No. 34. Patancheru, A.P. 502 324 India: International Crops Research Institute for the semi-Arid Tropics. 200 pp.

Chakrabarty SK, Anitha K, Girish AG, Sarath Babu B, Prasada Rao RDVJ, Varaprasad KS, Khetarpal RK, Thakur RP. 2005. Germplasm exchange and quarantine of ICRISAT mandate crops. Information Bulletin No. 69. Rajendranagar 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India: National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources; and Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics. 80pp.

Import/export of chickpea germplasm

Contributors to this page: ICRISAT, India (RP Thakur, AG Girish, VP Rao); ICARDA, Syria (Siham Asaad, Abdulrahman Moukahal).

Exporting germplasm

The ICRISAT Plant Quarantine Laboratory (PQL), in conjunction with the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) Regional Station, Hyderabad, conducts seed health tests on germplasm prior to export. The following export guidelines are to be followed before submitting seed material for export.

Guidelines

• Pre-export inspection of seed multiplication fields by NBPGR quarantine officials for seedborne diseases at various growth stages of the crop to avoid their spread.
• Collection of seed from fully mature and healthy plants.
• Cleaning seed to remove insects, pathogen propagules (Smut sori, Ergot sclerotia and Nematode Cysts), weed seed, crop debris, soil clods, stones, other foreign material, and small, shrunken, discolored and damaged seed.
• Submission of an on-line request for export of germplasm (form available at ICRISAT intranet under GT-Crop Improvement).
• Submission of untreated seed in fresh muslin bags or paper packets along with the four-point declaration certificate (available at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) for quarantine processing.
• Submission of the importing country’s plant quarantine requirements (see examples from ICRISAT and ICARDA) such as import permit, non-commercial value certificate, additional declaration for seedborne pathogens and pests, and any other specific regulations/requirements.

Examples of seed export letters are given below:

• Seed export letter - air mail.
• Seed export letter - courier.

For more detailed information see the full text of the Plant Quarantine Guidelines and Procedures for Germplasm Exchange of ICRISAT Mandate Crops (ICRISAT, 2004).

Importing germplasm

Seed and plant material for research can only be imported into India after obtaining an Import Permit (IP). As per Schedule X of the Plant Quarantine Order, 2003, the Director, NBPGR is empowered to issue import permits for all kinds of import of plant germplasm for public/private sector institutions in the country. An IP is also required to import live insects, all fungi in pure cultures, soil, or clay for microbiological studies or physical and chemical analyses. For each of these items, authorities designated by the Government of India issue the import permit. The consignee should abide by the following import guidelines.

Guidelines

• Submission of an on-line request for import (form available at ICRISAT intranet under GT-Crop Improvement) of seed/plant/plant products/ other material) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
• Submission of the import application by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to the relevant import issuing authority (see table below).

Competent authorities to issue various import permits

* After obtaining clearance from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT),
Block 2, 7th floor, C.G.O. Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110030

• This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. provides the import permit to the consignee along with mailing labels, guidelines and an advance notice form for onward transfer to the consignor.
• Advance notification of shipment by the consignor to the Director, NBPGR, New Delhi 110012, India with a copy to the Chief Plant Quarantine Officer, ICRISAT.
• (The consignor should use green-mailing labels bearing the address “Director, NBPGR, New Delhi 110 012, India”).
• Accompanied baggage import: Seed and plant material brought as accompanied baggage also requires an IP and PC. The international airports located at New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata are the points of entry for seed/plant samples brought into India as accompanied baggage. In such cases the seed samples should be handed over to the staff of the Plant Quarantine and Fumigation stations at the airport.

For more detailed information see the full text of the Plant Quarantine Guidelines and Procedures for Germplasm Exchange of ICRISAT Mandate Crops (ICRISAT, 2004).

References and further reading

International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). 2004. Plant Quarantine Guidelines and Procedures for Germplasm Exchange of ICRISAT Mandate Crops. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, India; National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, India; International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, India. Available here.

Guidelines for safe transfer of chickpea germplasm

Contributors to this page: ICRISAT, India (RP Thakur, AG Girish, VP Rao); ICARDA, Syria (Siham Asaad, Abdulrahman Moukahal).

Technical Guidelines for the Safe Transfer of Germplasm and the Protection of CGIAR Germplasm Banks

Pathogens of quarantine significance of chickpea tested by the Germplasm Health Laboratory of ICRISAT & ICARDA

Bacteria - chickpea

Contributors to this page: ICRISAT, India (RP Thakur, AG Girish, VP Rao); ICARDA, Syria (Siham Asaad, Abdulrahman Moukahal).

Bacterial blight

Scientific name

Pseudomonas syringae van Hall pv. pisi (Sackett) Young et al.

Other scientific names

Pseudomonas pisi.

Importance

Medium.

Significance

Severe infections (reaching 100% disease incidence) and substantial crop losses have been reported from winter sown peas in southern France, New Zealand and South Africa (Boelema 1972; Taylor 1972). The disease as such, however, does not appear to be of great economic importance in other parts of the world.

Symptoms

Symptoms appear on all aerial plant parts, including stipules, leaflets, petioles, stems, tendrils, flower buds and pods, but those on stems and stipules are most characteristic. Symptoms usually appear on the stem near the soil as water soaked and later olive-green to purple-brown spots. The infection extends upwards to the stipules and leaflets, where veins turn brown to black and adjacent tissues become diseased in a fan-like pattern. The interveinal tissues may become water soaked and then yellowish to brown, finally drying out and becoming papery. Lesions on leaflets and pods begin as small, round, oval or irregular dark-green water soaked spots at first, and later enlarge and coalesce but are sharply defined by the veins. Cream-coloured bacterial ooze may be found on the lesion surface that, upon drying, gives a glossy appearance. The leaflets later become yellowish and the spots brown and papery. Ripening pods become twisted and dry, lesions on them sunken and greenish-brown. Lesions on the pod may be limited to a narrow band on the sutures. Infected seeds show a water soaked spot near the hilum and/or are shrivelled, with a brown-yellow discoloration. Infection often takes place on sepals, spreading to the flowers, and flower buds may be killed before they open.

Hosts

Peas, including Pisum sativum var. arvense, are the principal host. Natural infection has also been found on Lablab purpureus (poor man’s bean), Lathyrus latifolius (everlasting pea), L. odoratus (garden sweet pea) and Vicia benghalensis (purple vetch).

Geographic distribution

Bacterial blight is distributed worldwide.

Biology and transmission

Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi is a motile, gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod, 0.7 ´ 2-3 µm, with one to five polar flagella. Disease develops more readily on soils with high moisture content. Infections can occur through contact of diseased and healthy foliage and insects may have a role in transmission. The bacterium can survive on or within seeds for at least ten months (Skoric 1927) and for several months on diseased plant debris in the field (Harris 1964).

Detection/indexing methods in place at the CGIAR Centres

• At ICRISAT - Detection of the pathogen in seeds is usually performed by soaking seeds in buffer at low temperature (4°C) for 4-16 hrs and subsequent isolation from the (centrifuged) soaking solution. For isolation from diseased tissues and seeds, King's B medium can be used, with supplement of boric acid, cephalexin and cycloheximide, if necessary (Mohan and Schaad 1987).
• At ICARDA - None present.

Treatment

No treatment methods in place.   

Procedure in place at the CGIAR Centres in case of positive test

• At ICRISAT - Incineration of the infected crop and rejection of the seed sample.
• At ICARDA - No procedures in place.

EPPO protocols

EPPO recommends (OEPP/EPPO 1990) that pea seeds should come from a field or area free from P. syringae pv. pisi, or else that the seed crop should have been inspected. However, seed testing techniques are now available (see Detection and indexing methods) that may prove useful. 

References and further reading

Boelema BH. 1972. Bacterial blight (Pseudomonas pisi Sackett) of peas in South Africa, with special reference to frost as a predisposing factor. Mededelingen Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen 72:1-87.

Harris DE. 1964. Bacterial blight of peas. Journal of Agriculture, Victoria Department of Agriculture 62:276-280.

Mohan SK, Schaad NW. 1987. Semiselective agar medium for isolating Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and pv. phaseolicola from bean seed. Phytopathology 77: 1390-1395.

OEPP/EPPO. 1990. Specific quarantine requirements. EPPO Technical Documents No. 1008.

Skoric V. 1927. Bacterial blight of peas; overwintering, dissemination and pathological histology. Phytopathology 17:611-628.

Taylor JD. 1972. Races of Pseudomonas pisi and sources of resistance in field and garden peas. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 15:441- 447.